Helena Williams
by AnnaBanannaBobanna
Summary: The story begins with Helena's sixth-year at Hogwarts as a Muggle-born placed in Slytherin house. Voldemort gives her the job of helping Draco Malfoy with his task but she has to figure out exactly what that job is before she can help him. She must hide the fact that she's working for him against her own will or he'll kill her parents.
1. Preface

"Wormtail," called Voldemort. The scruffy rat-like wizard came scampering forward and bowed so low that his nose was almost touching the floor.

"My Lord," stammered Wormtail.

"Bring me Bellatrix," said Voldemort.

"Y-yes, my Lord." Wormtail scattered off into the other room and returned moments later followed by a woman with flyaway black hair and crooked teeth.

"Get out, Wormtail!" said Voldemort. Wormtail scurried away, Voldemort flicking his wand at the door making it slam shut behind him. Bellatrix rushed forward and knelt down at Voldemort's feet.

"My Lord," she gushed. "What do you need me to do? I'll do anything, my Lord, to serve you…"

"Hush, Bellatrix," said Voldemort and she immediately fell silent, staring intently up at her master. "I need you to bring me a Mudblood by the name of Helena Williams."

Bellatrix nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes, I will, my dark Lord," she replied. "I won't let you down." She bowed her head, whispering her admiration for Voldemort, then got to her feet.

"Bring her to me alive," added Voldemort as Bellatrix backed from the room. She nodded, wide-eyed with excitement, then left the room.

Voldemort twirled his wand between his long fingers, still wondering what he was going to do with the Mudblood. Most of him wanted to kill her but a part of him thought that he should use her first.

He had, of course, only given Draco Malfoy the job of killing Albus Dumbledore as a punishment for Lucius. He suspected that Draco would fail and that Severus would have to do it, but it would be more useful to him if Severus was able to continue to infiltrate the Order. He doubted whether Draco could succeed; however, if he were to have help...

He'd only have to threaten her family and she'd be begging to do anything. And to ensure that she wouldn't tell anyone, he'd make it look as though she was on their side. But, he thought, he could not let his Death Eaters know. They wouldn't understand why he had done it but, and he smiled at the thought, he knew the best ways to torture someone.


	2. Chapter One

Helena woke late on Saturday morning to a rhythmic pecking sound on her street-side window. She pulled back her covers and reluctantly rose from her bed, grabbing a bronze coin from a little bag on her dresser as she made her way over to the window. She drew back the curtain and through squinting eyes saw a large tawny owl perched on her window sill, clutching the _Daily Prophet_ in its beak. Helena opened the window, took the wizarding newspaper and popped the Knut in the little bag tied to the owl's leg. The owl took off and Helena returned to her bed to read an article about the new Minister for Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, and the increased security at Hogwarts.

_Newly appointed Minister for Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, spoke today of the tough new measures taken by his Ministry to ensure the safety of students returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this autumn._

_'__For obvious reasons, this Ministry will not be going into detail about its stringent new security plans,' said the Minister, although an insider confirmed that measures include defensive spells and charms, a complex array of counter-curses and a small task force of Aurors dedicated solely to the protection of Hogwarts School._

Helena felt a certain amount of reassurance from reading this. She had feared that, being a Muggle-born, she might've been a target for the Death Eaters but seeing as they hadn't come for her, nor had the Ministry offered her and her family any kind of protection, she assumed that she was not on their radar.

There was a knock at the door and she shoved the _Daily Prophet_ under her duvet before saying, "Come in."

Helena still hadn't told her parents about You-Know-Who's return. She didn't want to worry them when there was nothing they could do about it.

Her mother, Gwen, came into her room, rolling her eyes at the sight of Helena still in bed.

"Did you forget that Megan and Rhys are coming round for lunch?"

Helena groaned and got back out of bed.

"Hurry up," said Gwen. "I need you to run down to the shops."

"OK, I'll be down soon," said Helena. She put on a sundress and flipflops then picked up her wand from her bedside table, tucking it in one of the pockets of her dress. She went downstairs and was handed some money and a grocery list by her mother and ushered out the door.

The shops were quite busy on a Saturday morning but Helena didn't mind; she felt quite safe from any Death Eater attack when she was surrounded by Muggles.

Once she had her mother's groceries she started walking back home but as she cut across the park to her house, she knew that something was wrong. The park had been crawling with people when she had come through only half an hour ago but now it was eerily empty. She switched her groceries to one hand and pulled her wand out of her pocket with the other, looking around her. She started walking swiftly towards her home, breaking into a run as she got closer.

Suddenly there was a loud crack and a woman appeared in front of her, wielding a wand right at Helena. She skidded to a stop and her wand went flying. The woman grabbed her and everything went dark and she couldn't breathe; it felt as though she was being twisted and squeezed until suddenly it stopped and they were no longer in the park.

They were in a dark lane with forest on either side and ahead was a tiny rundown hut with two masked men guarding the door. Helena's head was spinning from what she assumed was her first time apparating and her knees collapsed.

"Get up," spat the woman. She started dragging her along the lane towards the shack. Helena tried to struggle against her but she held her wand to her throat and whispered in her ear,

"Stop struggling, or I'll kill you. Now walk." She shoved Helena along as the two masked guards stepped aside. The woman dragged her inside and she shoved her onto the floor.

"That'll be all, Bellatrix," came a cold voice from the other side of the room.

"But, my Lord," spluttered Bellatrix, "I… I was hoping…"

"That is all," commanded the voice. Bellatrix reluctantly left the room looking thoroughly disappointed.

Helena slowly raised her gaze from the floor and tried to look brave as she stared straight into the cruel face of Lord Voldemort.

"Stand up," he ordered. Helena didn't move, her whole body frozen with fear. Voldemort pointed his wand at her and she felt herself get to her feet, still unable to move.

"Crucio," hissed Voldemort. Helena screamed and fell back to the floor, writhing and her eyes rolling back into her head. Voldemort laughed softly as he watched for a moment, then lifted the curse. Helena lay there for a moment as she caught her breath then she managed to roll over and push herself back up to her feet.

"Are you going to kill me?" she asked. Much to her surprise, Voldemort lowered his wand.

"No," he said, so quietly that Helena was sure she had misheard him. "Why would I kill someone from my own house? You are a Slytherin, aren't you?"

"Yes," said Helena, "but…" She took a deep breath and said quickly, "I'm not on your side." Voldemort leapt up from his seat and ran over to her. Helena stood her ground as Voldemort towered over her and pressed the point of his wand against her chin. Then he slowly moved his wand down to her left arm and he jabbed her with it. Black ink started to flow through her arm and Helena gasped when she saw the shape that was forming. She'd seen it in the _Daily Prophet_ after the Quidditch World Cup – Voldemort's mark. She tried to pull her arm away but it was like Voldemort's wand was connected to her arm and it wouldn't let her move away.

"I have a job for you," said Voldemort when the Dark Mark was complete.

"I won't do anything for you," said Helena through gritted teeth. Voldemort waved his wand and suddenly Helena felt as though she was being strangled. She lifted her hands to her neck but there was nothing there.

"I won't hesitate to kill you, or your family, if you don't do as I say!" said Voldemort loudly. He glanced at the door and lowered his voice when he spoke again. "I have given Draco Malfoy a job to do at Hogwarts this year and you will make sure nothing stops him from doing it. You will not tell him or anyone else about it, and I'll know if you do, and I will torture and kill you and everyone you care about."

Helena nodded quickly and Voldemort waved his wand again. The pressure around her throat vanished and she gulped down breaths of air as Voldemort called for Bellatrix to come back in.

At first Bellatrix looked shocked to see that Helena was alive but it was quickly replaced by glee as she thought that her master was going to let her kill her.

"My Lord," she cried. "You have saved her for me… Thank you, my Lord."

"No," said Voldemort. "I need you to take her back."

Bellatrix's smile faltered.

"My Lord?"

"Take her back!" spat Voldemort at Bellatrix. She grabbed Helena and thrust her out of the hut. They disapparated back to the park where Bellatrix left her and went back to Voldemort, asking him,

"My Lord, why didn't you kill the Mudblood?"

"Her death will come," said Voldemort, "when she has outlived her use."

Helena fell to the ground when Bellatrix released her and by the time she opened her eyes she had disapparated. She groped around the grass for her wand and held it tightly in her shaky hand once she found it. She quickly gathered up the groceries and ran across the rest of the park to her house. Her aunt and uncle were getting out of their car on her driveway but Helena ignored their greetings and went straight into the house, dumping the groceries at the bottom of the stairs before leaping up them and shutting herself in her bedroom.

She felt sick and ran to her bathroom to throw up. Her mother started calling her to come downstairs so Helena quickly washed her face, tucked her wand back in her pocket and put on a cardigan to cover up the Dark Mark on her lower left arm then went downstairs, trying to forget what had just happened for now. She went into the kitchen where Gwen was unpacking the groceries.

"Why did you leave these in the hall?" she asked. "And you weren't very careful; some of the eggs are broken."

"Sorry, Mum," said Helena. "I was gonna bring them in but I really needed the bathroom."

"Right, well, go say hello to Megan and Rhys, then get some lemons off the tree," said Gwen. "I need you to make some lemonade." Helena nodded then went into the living room.

"Hi Megan, hi Rhys," said Helena.

"Well, hello Helena," said Rhys. "Why were you in such a hurry before?"

"Bathroom."

Rhys laughed. Helena crossed the room and went through the sliding door into the backyard to get the lemons. She gripped her wand the whole time she was outside, filling the other pocket of her dress with lemons, then rushing back inside. She had to let go of her wand inside the house; she didn't want to worry her parents and her aunt and uncle didn't know that she was a witch. They thought that she went to boarding school in England.

She took the lemons into the kitchen and made a pitcher of old-fashioned lemonade then put it in the fridge to cool.

"You're awfully quiet, Helena," said Gwen as she stacked savouries on a plate. "Are you OK?"

"Fine," Helena mumbled. "Actually, I don't feel very well."

Her mother looked concernedly at her.

"You do look quite pale," she commented. "I think you should go lie down. I'll tell the others that you aren't well and I'll put some lunch aside for when you feel better."

"Thanks." Helena didn't linger and went straight back upstairs to her room. She closed her window but was forced to open it again since it was so hot. She lay on her bed, remembering what Voldemort had said.

He asked her to help Draco Malfoy. No, not help; make sure nothing stops him from doing it – that was what he said. But he didn't tell her what Malfoy was doing. How was she supposed to make sure nothing stopped him from doing it if she didn't even know what _it_ was? And what if she couldn't do it? Voldemort would kill her and her family.

Why had he even asked her to do it? Surely he knew that she and Malfoy weren't friends since Malfoy was obsessed with blood purity. As was Voldemort, yet he tattooed her, a Muggle-born, with his mark. Helena didn't understand why he'd done it, but she knew that she would have to do what he asked and she couldn't tell anyone. She would be so ashamed if someone found out that she was working for Voldemort, even though she didn't have a choice. She wanted to stand up to him but he would've killed her family.

There were still a few weeks until she returned to Hogwarts and there was nothing she could do until then. She needed to push it to the back of her mind and act normal so she didn't worry her parents. Of course, it was hard to try and forget something when a constant reminder was inked into your arm.


	3. Chapter Two

A few days later Helena woke up late and slid out of bed and went over to the window to see if the _Daily Prophet_ had been left on her windowsill. It hadn't so Helena guessed that as she hadn't been awake to pay the owl, it had flown back with the paper. She turned from the window but stopped when she heard the familiar cry of an owl. She squinted out the window and saw an owl flying towards her. It wasn't the usual owl who delivered the _Prophet_ though; it was a bigger barn owl and it was carrying a large envelope. It landed on the windowsill and Helena took the envelope from the owl's beak. She sat down on her bed as the owl took off. She ripped open the envelope and pulled out a piece of parchment, headed with the title _Ordinary Wizarding Level Results_ followed by all Outstandings. Helena grinned and ran downstairs with the letter to show her parents.

But as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she realised that something was wrong. The carpet in the hallway was flecked with blood and the glass door into the kitchen was shattered. The letter dropped from her hand as she slowly walked towards the kitchen. The broken glass jabbed at her bare feet as she passed through the doorframe. There was more blood streaked across the walls in the kitchen and a puddle of soggy cereal dripped off the countertop. Helena walked towards the dining room. As she stepped through the archway, she could see her parents' bodies hanging from the light above the table. Wind was blowing through the open doors into the sunroom and the backyard and it made the bodies swing back and forth.

Helena walked past the bodies and through the sunroom out into the yard. She stepped out onto the lawn and looked up where a colossal skull made of green smoke blazed in the sky. A great serpent slithered from its mouth and dived at Helena. She fell backwards and tried to wriggle away as the snake opened its mouth and started screeching at her. She put her hands over her ears and closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, she saw that it wasn't a giant serpent making the noise, but an owl perched on her windowsill trying to wake her up. It had dropped a large envelope onto the floor from its beak and, once it had seen that Helena was awake, flew away, still hooting. It took her a few moments to process that it was just a dream then she rolled out of bed and picked up the envelope off the ground. She sat back down on her bed to open the envelope and slid out the piece of parchment from inside. It read:

_ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS_

_Pass Grades: Outstanding (O) Fail Grades: Poor(P)_

_Exceeds Expectations (E) Dreadful (D)_

_Acceptable (A) Troll (T)_

_HELENA MAY WILLIAMS HAS ACHIEVED:_

_Arithmancy: E_

_Astronomy: O_

_Care of Magical Creatures: E_

_Charms: O_

_Defence Against the Dark Arts: O_

_Divination: A_

_Herbology: O_

_History of Magic: O_

_Potions: O_

_Transfiguration: O_

She completely forgot about the nightmare and grinned. She had to read the grades about three times before she believed them then she leaped off her bed and bounced downstairs and into the kitchen where her parents were eating breakfast.

"I got my O.W.L. results," she announced and thrust the parchment in front of her mother's nose. She took it from her and placed it on the countertop so she and Tom could both read it. She drummed her fingers on the counter excitedly while they read it and realised that she had forgotten to cover up her Dark Mark. Luckily her parents were too busy reading to notice and she quickly hid her arm behind her back.

"Congratulations!" said Gwen. "I'm really proud of you. Does this mean that you'll be able to take all of the subjects that you want?"

Helena nodded. "I'm not continuing Divination, History of Magic or Care of Magical Creatures this year," she told them. "I'm hoping to take Alchemy, but it will only run if enough students want to take it."

"Are you sure that you should be dropping so many subjects?" asked Gwen. "You did so well in History."

"I won't be able to do well in my N.E.W.T.'s if I overstretch myself, Mum," said Helena. "If I can't take Alchemy, then I'll take Care of Magical Creatures."

"And that's a good subject to take?" asked Gwen.

"They're all good subjects, Mum," said Helena, rolling her eyes. She reached out for the parchment with her right arm then went back upstairs to examine her results again before putting on a cardigan and heading downstairs for breakfast.

The end of summer couldn't come sooner for Helena; the stories in the _Daily Prophet_ about strange disappearances, odd accidents and deaths made her nervous and she ached for that feeling of safety she felt inside the castle's walls. She only wished that she wouldn't have to leave her parents with no protection. But the sooner she got to Hogwarts, the sooner she could complete Voldemort's task and then she and her parents would be safe. At least, that's what she was telling herself for now. If she had to think about what would happen after, then she thought she might break.

As well as reading about the terrible incidents in both the wizarding and Muggle worlds in the _Daily Prophet_, Helena had received a pamphlet from the Ministry of Magic.

_Issued on Behalf of the Ministry of Magic_

_PROTECTING YOUR HOME AND FAMILY_

_AGAINST DARK FORCES_

_The wizarding community is currently under threat from an organisation calling itself the Death Eaters. Observing the following simple security guidelines will help protect you, your family and your home from attack._

_1.__You are advised not to leave the house alone._

_2.__Particular care should be taken during the hours of darkness. Wherever possible, arrange to complete journeys before night has fallen._

_3.__Review the security arrangements around your house, making sure that all family members are aware of emergency measures such as Shield and Disillusionment Charms and, in the case of under-age family members, Side-Along Apparition._

_4.__Agree security questions with close friends and family so as to detect Death Eaters masquerading as others by use of Polyjuice Potion (see page 2)._

_5.__Should you feel that a family member, colleague, friend or neighbour is acting in a strange manner, contact the Magical Law Enforcement Squad at once. They may have been put under the Imperius Curse (see page 4)._

_6.__Should the Dark Mark appear over any dwelling place or other building, DO NOT ENTER, but contact the Auror Office immediately._

_7.__Unconfirmed sightings suggest that the Death Eaters may now be using Inferi (see page 10). Any sighting of an Inferius, or encounter with same, should be reported to the Ministry IMMEDIATELY._

For a Muggle-born under-age witch, she did not find it particularly helpful. Since she had decided to keep the Death Eaters a secret from her parents, she had no excuses as to why they could not leave the house alone or at night. Even if they went out together, without Helena they had no way of defending themselves against an attack from a Death Eater. The part about the Inferi only made Helena feel worse, although at least the pamphlet taught her how to stop them. She hadn't come across them before in her reading but she now knew that they were animated dead bodies that were forced to do a dark wizard's bidding. The only way to stop them was with fire, which was a fairly simple spell that they had already been taught at Hogwarts.

On the penultimate day of August Helena reluctantly got up early to pack her trunk. Her mother had washed all of her Muggle clothes the day before and they were neatly stacked on her window seat. She lay out her clothes for the following day on her bed and packed the rest on top of her schoolbooks and her robes which she had stored in her trunk at the beginning of the summer holidays. It was quite full by the time she had finished packing; as usual she would have trouble squashing in her new books and supplies that she would be getting in the next day in Diagon Alley.

She changed out of her pyjamas so that she could pack them then went downstairs to get some breakfast. Her father was already in the kitchen, making pancakes.

"Morning, sweetheart," said Tom as Helena sat down at the counter. He set a plate of pancakes and a bottle of maple syrup down in front of her and started making coffee. Gwen came in and sat beside her.

"I think we should get your books and things this afternoon," she said. "That way if it's busy or we forget anything, we can go back tomorrow."

"Actually, I was going to meet my friends this afternoon," said Helena, "and we were going to get our things together." From what she had read in the _Daily Prophet_ about Ollivander's and all of the other disappearances, her parents would definitely find out about You-Know-Who if she took them into Diagon Alley. "So I'll just meet up with them today, and then we can spend the day together tomorrow."

"I guess that's fine," said Gwen.

"Cool," said Helena and she took her plate into the lounge to watch TV.

A couple of hours later they finally got on the road, headed for London. Helena and Tom managed to convince Gwen to stop for McDonalds at Reading, then when they reached London about three hours later they dropped her off to meet her friends.

Helena opened the car door and quickly jumped out and ran across the road to what looked like a bookshop to her parents but to her was the Leaky Cauldron. She pushed open one of the large creaky doors and went inside.

It was uncharacteristically empty for late August; Tom the barman looked up hopefully when Helena entered and greeted her enthusiastically.

"I'm just passing through," she said apologetically and headed out the back where the bins where kept. She pulled out her wand and tapped the brick wall in the right spot to reveal the archway into Diagon Alley. Immediately she could see that she was right not to bring her parents along.

Diagon Alley had changed. There was no longer the usual hustle and bustle of witches and wizards dressed in brightly coloured robes manoeuvring the cobbled street to examine the colourful, glittering window displays of spellbooks, potion ingredients and cauldrons. Instead the windows had been covered up with large Ministry of Magic posters. Some were blown-up versions of the security advice on the Ministry pamphlets that had been sent out over the summer and others were huge moving black-and-white photographs of Death Eaters known to be on the loose. Her heart jumped into her throat when she saw Bellatrix Lestrange sneering at her from the front of the nearest apothecary.

She rushed past the poster and instead surveyed the shabby-looking stalls that had popped up along the street. She walked past a stall under a striped, stained awning outside of Flourish and Blotts. It had a cardboard sign pinned to its front that read _Amulets: Effective Against Werewolves, Dementors and Inferi_. The seedy little wizard that was running the stall rattled armfuls of silver chains at her as she rushed by.

She followed the main street down to the end to Gringotts. The security had been tightened since last year and the doors were guarded by two wizards armed with Probity Probes. Once inside, she saw that the lines of wizards waiting to get into their vaults stretched out of the Main Hall and into the Entrance Hall. Luckily for Helena, she only needed to exchange her Muggle money for wizard money and was able to squash through the doors and join the shorter queue for exchanging.

It took about an hour for Helena to get her Galleons, Sickles and Knuts and by then she was running late to meet her friends. She pushed through the crowds in Gringotts then rushed through the streets to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour where she was to meet them. As she got closer to the ice cream parlour she saw that it was boarded up. She looked around for her friends and eventually she saw Mason standing alone and went over to him.

"Hey!" she greeted him.

He looked relieved to see her and wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug.

"Where are the others?" she asked, her voice muffled by his chest. They pulled apart and Mason answered,

"They've already done their shopping," said Mason. "Are you here alone?" he asked.

"I'm here with you," she said.

"It isn't safe anymore," he told her, "especially for you. Where are your parents?"

"They're in London," she said. "I couldn't bring them here. I don't want them to know about the Death Eaters and… You-Know-Who."

"You haven't told them?" asked Mason, surprised.

"You said it yourself," said Helena. "I'm in more danger than other wizards and witches. I don't want them to worry. C'mon."

She led the way to Madam Malkin's to get new robes.

"Wait," said Helena, grabbing Mason and pulling him around the corner. Malfoy was going into the robe store with his mother.

"Let's go to the apothecary first," said Helena and changed direction without waiting for a reply. After they got their potion ingredients they headed back to Madam Malkin's and finally to Flourish and Blotts to get their books.

"There's just one more place I need to go," said Mason, "then we can grab something to eat." He led the way up the street.

"I saw a good place down the road," said Helena, "in the – whoa."

They had come to a store called 'Weasley's Wizarding Weasles.' One of the windows was dazzlingly full of an assortment of goods that revolved, popped, flashed, bounced and shrieked. The other window was covered with a gigantic poster, purple like those of the ministry, but emblazoned with flashing yellow letters:

_Why Are You Worrying About You-Know-Who?_

_You SHOULD Be Worrying About_

_U-N0-POO – _

_The Constipation Sensation That's Gripping the Nation!_

Helena's mouth fell open.

"Wow." She looked at Mason. "At least I'm safer than them," she said with a tentative smile. They pushed their way through the crowds inside and over to the nearest display. It was a display of quills that came in three different varieties: Self-Inking, Spell-Checking and Smart-Answer.

"These are impressive," said Helena to Mason. "I wonder how long they last though." She picked up one of each so she could examine the magic behind them when she got back to Hogwarts.

"Oh, look at that!" She pulled Mason through the crowd over to the display by the counter. The sign read _Patented Daydream Charms_.

"Look at this," she exclaimed. "This is incredible magic."

"Why thank you," came a voice from behind her. She turned around to see one of the Weasley twins dressed in bright magenta robes that clashed terribly with his orange hair.

"How does it work?" she asked. Fred, or George, grinned and tapped his nose with his finger then walked away. Helena looked through the boxes and picked one out.

"Hang on, are you going to use that in a class?" asked Mason with exaggerated shock. "You? Not pay attention in class?"

"Shut up," said Helena and went a bit red. "I'm gonna study it," she admitted and Mason laughed.

They had a look around the rest of the floor, with Helena having to explain the stand of Muggle magic tricks in the corner to Mason. Helena paid for her quills, the daydream charm, and some Instant Darkness Powder and Mason got a Skiving Snackbox.

"So where did you want to eat?" he asked when they got out of _Weasley's Wizarding Weasles_ and back into the gloomy alley.

"Oh, down from the Leaky Cauldron, in the Muggle world," said Helena.

"What about all our stuff?" asked Mason, gesturing to their spellbooks and potion supplies that would like quite out of place in the Muggle world.

"Don't worry about it," Helena reassured him. "People will just think we're cosplayers." Mason looked completely blank. "Don't worry," she repeated and they headed back to the Leaky Cauldron and out into the Muggle world. They walked a little ways down the street and Helena stopped outside of an ice cream parlour.

"Seeing as Florean's was closed…" she said, smiling hopefully.

"Go on then," said Mason, "you sweet tooth." They went inside and ordered their sundaes. At the counter Helena pulled out her purse.

"Can I borrow some Muggle money?" Mason asked her. The girl who was serving them looked slightly amused and exchanged a look with her friend. Helena handed over the money and they left the store.

"C'mon, we'll go eat by the river," said Helena, already licking the ice cream off her spoon. They walked slowly, held down by all their shopping. Once they reached the riverside, they sat down and finally sunk into their sundaes.

Mason was pretending to sneak a sweet from his Skiving Snackbox into Helena's ice cream when she suddenly stood up and walked over to the railing.

"What is it?" asked Mason, following her. She was looking down the river.

"Look," said Helena. "That's the Millennium Bridge, or at least it used to be. Did you hear about it?" she asked him.

He nodded.

"The Death Eaters killed Muggles just because Fudge wouldn't resign as Minister for Magic," said Helena. She put her hands on the railing and her fists tightened. "What if they win?"

Mason reached out and put his hand on hers.

"They won't," he told her, shaking his head.

"How do you know?" she asked him.

He didn't reply; he took her hand and led her back over to the table to finish their ice creams.

It was getting close to dinnertime so they headed back to the Leaky Cauldron where Helena's parents came to pick her up.

"I'll see you at Hogwarts," said Helena.

"See you," said Mason, and hugged her. "Be safe," he whispered.

"You too," said Helena then she ran over to her car and jumped in.

"Who was that boy?" asked Gwen immediately. Helena tried not to smile as she piled her stuff up on the backseat.

"Just a friend," said Helena. "His name is Mason."

"Is he in your house at school?" asked Tom.

"No, he's in Ravenclaw," said Helena. "But we have some classes together."

"And did you get all your shopping done?" asked Gwen. "Did you get your new robes?"

"Yes-"

"And did you exchange all of your money into wizard money?"

"Yes-"

"And did you check that you got all of your books?"

"Yes, Mum! I have everything!"

"Right, well double-check when we get back to the hotel," said Gwen, ignoring Helena's tone. "What are we having for dinner?" she asked.

"Pizza?" suggested Tom.

"We already had takeaways for lunch," said Gwen.

"But we don't have pizza at Hogwarts, Mum," Helena protested. She and her father both pulled their puppy dog faces at her.

Gwen laughed. "Fine," she said. "Stop looking at me like that!" Helena got out her phone to find the nearest pizza place to their hotel then once they had their pizzas they headed back to their hotel to eat.

The next morning they gathered around the dining table in their hotel room to decide what they would spend the day doing. Every time they came to London before Helena went off the Hogwarts for another year they would visit a different attraction. Before her first year at Hogwarts they visited Buckingham Palace and last year they went to the Natural History Museum.

It was usually two against one and this time it was Gwen and Helena against Tom – they were going to the National Gallery. They spent the day then went out for dinner before returning, tired, to the hotel. Helena spent around an hour trying to fit everything into her trunk only to have her mother come in and fit everything in in a manner of minutes. Then she collapsed onto her bed to get a good sleep before catching the Hogwarts Express the next day.

She lay in bed smiling for a while before she realised that somehow she had managed to forget all about her task from Voldemort. Her smile faded and was replaced with a nervous knot in her stomach. She rolled over and stared at the Dark Mark on her arm. Tomorrow she was going to have to do something about it. As much as she wished she would be telling one of her professors about it, she wasn't going to. She couldn't risk putting her parents in danger after Voldemort had warned her that he would kill them. Besides, she was in Slytherin house – no one would believe her that Voldemort had tattooed her with his mark against her will.

So she was just going to do what he told her to. She wasn't going to tell anyone and she wasn't going to care what Malfoy was doing. Unless he was up to something really bad, in which case she told herself that she would come clean. But otherwise all that mattered to her was that she kept herself and her parents alive.


	4. Chapter Three

The farewell between Helena and her parents was usually only a little bit teary, mostly on Gwen's part but this time Helena found a few tears escaping her eyes too. She quickly rushed through to Platform 9¾ in case she started completely crying.

She loaded her luggage onto the train then went to find a seat. She entered the compartment where the other sixth-year Slytherins were already sitting. As she walked between the seats, Malfoy shot her a disgusted look but Helena just ignored him. A couple of booths down from Malfoy were a few of her friends from Ravenclaw, including Mason, and Helena sat down with them.

"Hey, Helena," said Holly Hughes. "How was your summer?"

"Nothing special," said Helena. "How was yours?" Holly then proceeded to tell Helena and the others about her family's trip to Spain and after ten minutes of describing only one of the many places they visited, Helena's attention faded. She looked out the window and watched the familiar countryside roll past, occasionally joining in the conversation. When night started to fall, they changed into their robes and talked excitedly about the Start-of-Term feast. In the reflection on the window, Helena could see Pansy Parkinson fawning over Malfoy and her mind wandered to the Dark Mark on her arm. She subconsciously pulled at her jersey sleeve, making sure the mark was covered, thinking about the task Voldemort had given her.

'You are to make sure nothing gets in his way.' She had been repeating these words over and over again in her head for the past few weeks but Helena still had no idea what Voldemort required her to do. How was she supposed to make sure nothing got in his way if she didn't know what Draco was doing?

She was distracted from her thoughts by a ruckus at the compartment door. Zabini had fallen into Goyle's lap and Goyle had angrily flung him off and slammed the door shut. Zabini returned to his seat and Malfoy lay back down across two seats with his head in Pansy's lap.

From where she was sitting, Helena could hear Malfoy complaining about someone called Slughorn. From what she could gather he was a new teacher at Hogwarts; presumably he would be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts.

"…I don't think Slughorn's interested in Death Eaters."

This caught Helena's attention and she strained her ears for Malfoy's response.

"Well, who cares what he's interested in? What is he, when you come down to it? Just some stupid teacher." Malfoy yawned ostentatiously. "I mean, I might not even be at Hogwarts next year, what's it matter if some fat old has-been likes me or not?"

"What do you mean, you might not be at Hogwarts next year?" said Pansy indignantly.

"Well, you never know," said Malfoy. "I might have – er – moved on to bigger and better things."

"Do you mean – _Him?"_

"Mother wants me to complete my education, but personally, I don't see it as that important these days. I mean, think about it… when the Dark Lord takes over, is he going to care how many O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s anyone's got? Of course he isn't… it'll be all about the kind of service he received, the level of devotion he was shown."

"And you think _you'll_ be able to do something for him?" asked Zabini scathingly. "Sixteen years old and not even fully qualified yet?"

Malfoy's voice dropped so low that Helena almost couldn't hear him.

"I've just said, haven't I? Maybe he doesn't care if I'm qualified. Maybe the job he wants me to do isn't something that you need to be qualified for," said Malfoy.

What job, though Helena, tell them what he wants you to do.

"I can see Hogwarts," said Malfoy, "We'd better get our robes on."

Helena swore under her breath. Keep calm, she told herself, you're smart, you'll figure it out. She turned her attention back to her friends who were getting ready to exit the train once it had halted. She reached into her trunk and pulled out her cloak, fastening it around her neck as the train started to slow. She waited until Crabbe and Goyle had punched their way through the groups of first- and second-years then filed off the train with the others. Helena noticed that Malfoy was lingering behind but she doubted whatever You-Know-You had asked him to do had anything to do with the Hogwarts Express and she followed her friends out onto the platform. They walked over to the carriages and climbed into a free one, letting it take them up to the school. Once they reached the gates, they descended from their carriage and had to endure Filch's jabs with a secrecy sensor to ensure that they weren't bringing any Dark objects into the school. Then they followed the trail of students heading up to the castle and into the Great Hall.

"See you later," said Mason, giving Helena a quick hug before departing to the Ravenclaw table. She looked up and down the Slytherin table for a place to sit and was waved over by Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis.

"Hey," they greeted her as she sat down opposite them.

"What's up with you and Mason King?" asked Daphne.

"We're just friends," said Helena quickly. Daphne raised her eyebrows at her but Helena changed the subject. "How was your summer?" she asked.

Daphne shrugged. "It was pretty good," she replied. "Better than yours, I expect."

"Why do you say that?" asked Helena.

Daphne leaned across the table and said, "You're a Muggle-born. That could've been your last summer ever."

"Right, thanks, Daphne," said Helena sarcastically.

"Sorry," said Daphne, "but it's true."

"I'd rather not think about it," said Helena. Tracey and Daphne exchanged a look as Professor Dumbledore stood and cleared his throat, signalling for everyone to quieten down.

The doors to the Great Hall swung open and Professor McGonagall strode inside, followed by fifty-something little first-years tripping over each other as they looked up at the magical ceiling in awe. They looked nervous and excited at the same time as they huddled at the front of the hall. Professor McGonagall took out a piece of parchment from her robes and, once the hall had quietened down, read the first name on the list.

"Adkins, Terrence." A little boy with dark brown hair stepped up to the stool and Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on his head. Moments later the Hat called out,

"Slytherin!"

The whole of Slytherin house cheered as he ran over to their table.

Once the rest of the first-years had all been Sorted, Professor McGonagall returned to her seat before the Hat began its speech. It was the usual speech, with the Hat advising everyone to unite in the face of their enemies. Then when the Hat was taken away, Professor Dumbledore got to his feet and waved his hands. The feast appeared, accompanied with squeals of delight from the new students and the old.

Helena piled her plate high, even though she knew there was no way she would be able to finish everything. She listened to the chat of the other Slytherins as she ate. Among the older students, they mostly spoke of the strange accidents and deaths that happened over the summer. But they did not appear to share the same fear as everyone else. As most of them were from Pureblood families, they had no reason to worry for their safety, but the way some of them spoke of the disappearances it sounded as though they didn't care about them.

She discretely looked down the table at Malfoy who was miming something about breaking a nose. He was acting more arrogant than ever, no doubt because he was now one of Voldemort's Death Eaters. Near the end of dinner, Helena looked up to see Harry Potter being escorted into the Great Hall by Snape. His face was covered in blood. Helena assumed that's what Malfoy was doing when he stayed on the train.

After desert, Professor Dumbledore stepped up to the podium to begin his speech.

"The very best of evenings to you!" he said, smiling broadly, his arms opened wide as though to embrace the whole room. Whispers swept the room; his right hand was blackened and dead-looking. Dumbledore, interpreting the whispers correctly, merely smiled and shook his purple and gold sleeve over his injury.

"Nothing to worry about," he said airily. "Now… to our new students, welcome; to our old students, welcome back! Another year full of magical education awaits you…

…and Mr Filch, our caretaker, has asked me to say that there is a blanket ban on any joke items bought at the shop called Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

Those wishing to play for their house Quidditch teams should give their names to their Heads of House as usual. We are also looking for new Quidditch commentators, who should do likewise.

We are pleased to welcome a new member of staff this year. Professor Slughorn," Slughorn stood up, his bald head gleaming in the candlelight, his big waistcoated belly casting the table below into shadow, "is a former colleague of mine who has agreed to resume his old post of Potions master."

"Potions?"

_"__Potions?"_

The word echoed all over the hall as people wondered whether they had heard right.

"Professor Snape, meanwhile," said Dumbledore, raising his voice so that it carried over all the muttering, "will be taking over the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." Snape didn't stand but lazily raised a hand in acknowledgement. The whole of Slytherin clapped enthusiastically, except, Helena noticed, for Malfoy.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. The whole hall had erupted in a buzz of conversation at the news that Snape had finally achieved his heart's desire. Seemingly oblivious to the sensational nature of the news he had just imparted, Dumbledore said nothing more about staff appointments, but waited a few seconds to ensure that the silence was absolute before continuing.

"Now, as everybody in this hall knows, Lord Voldemort and his followers are once more at large and gaining in strength."

The silence seemed to tauten and strain as Dumbledore spoke. Helena saw that Malfoy was not looking at Dumbledore, but making his fork hover in midair with his wand, as though he found the Headmaster's words unworthy of his attention.

"I cannot emphasise strongly enough how dangerous the present situation is, and how much care each of us at Hogwarts must take to ensure that we remain safe. The castle's magical fortifications have been strengthened over the summer, we are protected in new and more powerful ways, but we must still guard scrupulously against carelessness on the part of any student or member of staff. I urge you, therefore, to abide by any security restrictions that your teachers might impose upon you, however irksome you might find them – in particular, the rule that you are not to be out of bed after hours. I implore you, should you notice anything strange or suspicious within or outside the castle, to report it to a member of staff immediately. I trust you to conduct yourselves, always, with the utmost regard for your own and each other's safety."

Dumbledore's blue eyes swept over the students before he smiled once more.

"But now, your beds await, as warm and comfortable as you could possibly wish, and I know that your top priority is to be well-rested for your lessons tomorrow. Let us therefore say goodnight. Pip pip!"

With the usual deafening scraping noise, the benches were moved back and the hundreds of students began to file out of the Great Hall towards their dormitories.


	5. Chapter Four

The following morning, Helena and her fellow sixth-years stayed behind at breakfast to get their timetables. Professor Snape descended from the staff table and the Slytherins lined up, some looking slightly nervous that they perhaps had not achieved the required O.W.L. grades to continue with their chosen N.E.W.T.s.

Professor Snape did not congratulate Helena on her O.W.L.s; he just tapped a blank timetable which filled with her lesson details and he passed it over to her. She read over it as she headed back to the common room. She had a free period now then her first class was Defence Against the Dark Arts, followed by Arithmancy after the break and then Potions.

An hour later Helena and the rest of the sixth-year Slytherins headed from the common room up to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. They lined up outside the door until it opened and Snape stepped into the corridor, his sallow face framed by two curtains of greasy black hair. Silence fell over the queue immediately.

"Inside," he said.

Helena looked around as they entered. Snape had imposed his personality upon the room already; it was gloomier than usual as curtains had been drawn over the windows, and was lit by candlelight. New pictures adorned the walls, many of them showing people who appeared to be in pain, sporting grisly injuries or strangely contorted body parts. Nobody spoke as they settled down, looking around at the shadowy gruesome pictures.

Helena took a seat next to Mason and started to take out her books from her bag.

"I have not asked you to take out your books," said Snape, closing the door and moving to face the class from behind his desk; Helena quickly shoved her book back into her bag and kicked it under her desk. "I wish to speak to you and I want your fullest attention."

His black eyes roved over their upturned faces.

"You have had five teachers in this subject so far, I believe. Naturally, these teachers will all have had their own methods and priorities. Given this confusion I am surprised so many of you scraped an O.W.L. in this subject. I shall be even more surprised if all of you manage to keep up with the N.E.W.T. work, which will be much more advanced."

Snape set off around the edge of the room, speaking now in a lower voice; the class craned their necks to keep him in view.

"The Dark Arts," said Snape, "are many, varied, ever-changing and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible.

Your defences," said Snape, a little louder, "must therefore be as flexible and inventive as the Arts you seek to undo. These pictures," he indicated a few of them as he swept past, "give a fair representation of what happens to those who suffer, for instance, the Cruciatus Curse" (he waved a hand towards a witch who was clearly shrieking in agony) "feel the Dementor's Kiss" (a wizard lying huddled and blank-eyed slumped against a wall) "or provoke the aggression of the Inferius" (a bloody mass upon the ground).

"Has an Inferius been seen, then?" asked Parvati Patil in a high-pitched voice. "Is it definite, is he using them?"

"The Dark Lord has used Inferi in the past," said Snape, "which means you would be well-advised to assume he might use them again. Now…"

He set off again around the other side of the classroom towards his desk, and again, the class watched him as he walked, his dark robes billowing behind him.

"…you are, I believe, complete novices in the use of non-verbal spells. What is the advantage of a non-verbal spell?"

Hermione's hand shot into the air. Snape took his time looking around at everybody else, making sure he had no choice, before saying curtly, "Very well – Miss Granger?"

"Your adversary has no warning about what kind of magic you're about to perform," said Hermione, "which gives you a split-second advantage."

"An answer copied almost word for word from _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6_," said Snape dismissively (over in the corner, Malfoy sniggered), "but correct in essentials. Yes, those who progress to using magic without shouting incantations gain an element of surprise in their spell-casting. Not all wizards can do this, of course; it is question of concentration and mind power which some," his gaze lingered maliciously upon Harry Potter, "lack.

You will now divide," Snape went on, "into pairs. One partner will attempt to jinx the other _without speaking_. The other will attempt to repel the jinx _in equal silence_. Carry on."

The class got to their feet and spread out around the room. A few minutes in, most of the class was cheating by whispering the incantation. But Helena had already learnt how to perform non-verbal spells the year before and easily disarmed Mason much to his surprise.

"How did you do that?" he exclaimed.

Helena stifled a laugh as Snape walked past, awarding twenty points to Slytherin for her success. When Hermione managed to repel Neville Longbottom's whispered Jelly-Legs Jinx a few minutes later it was conveniently missed by Snape.

"Just concentrate," Helena told Mason. "Clear your mind," she said, in a Trelawny-esque voice. Mason waved his wand and there was a loud bang as Helena was hit in the face by a Furnunculus charm. She fell backwards and her whole body started to break out in boils. Mason crouched beside her, exclaiming,

"I'm so sorry! I was only trying to disarm you!" But Helena was not listening; she had seen who had actually cursed her and she knew it was no accident. She jumped up, brandishing her wand at Malfoy and sent a non-verbal Hives Hex straight at him. Huge hives formed on his face and he yelled,

"Petrificus Totalus!" while pointing his wand at Helena. She deflected the spell and was about to retaliate when Snape whipped out his wand and disarmed them both, saying loudly,

"That's enough!" He looked around at the class who had all stopped to watch. "Get back to practicing," he said, then to Helena and Malfoy, "Both of you, get out of my classroom." They retrieved their wands and their bags and went out into the corridor. Snape followed them out and closed the classroom door behind him.

"Twenty points from Slytherin, for each of you," he said. "And you will both serve detention with me on Saturday evening. Get to the infirmary."

"But sir-" started Helena.

"Quiet," snarled Snape. "The infirmary, now." He went back into the classroom, leaving Helena and Malfoy alone together. They headed off to the infirmary, Helena walking slightly ahead of Draco, wary that he may attempt to curse her again.

Once Madam Pomfrey had cured her of the boils, Helena left the infirmary and found Mason waiting in the corridor for her.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "What did Snape do?"

"We both got detention on Saturday," she told him. "Do you want to go to the library? I don't want to go back to the common room."

"Sure," said Mason.

They headed along the third floor corridor to the library and went inside to find an empty corner to sit and chat quietly until they had to go to their next class.

After Arithmancy Helena headed down to the dungeon for Potions. Malfoy was there with Blaise and Nott, as well as Michael Corner, Anthony Goldstein, Lauren Bennett and Jasmine Moore from Ravenclaw, Ernie Macmillan from Hufflepuff and Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger from Gryffindor.

The dungeon door opened and Slughorn's belly preceded him out of the door. As they filed into the room, his great walrus moustache curved above his beaming mouth and he greeted Harry and Zabini with particular enthusiasm.

The dungeon was, most unusually, already full of vapours and odd smells. Helena sniffed interestedly as she passed large, bubbling cauldrons. The four Ravenclaws took a table together, as did the Gryffindors and Ernie Macmillan, leaving Helena to sit with the other Slytherins.

"Now then, now then, now then," said Slughorn, who massive outline was quivering through the many shimmering vapours. "Scales out, everyone, and potion kits, and don't forget your copies of _Advanced Potion-Making…_"

Helena unpacked the contents of her bag onto her corner of the table and looked over at the nearest potion while she waited for Slughorn to resume speaking.

"Now then," said Slughorn, returning to the front of the class and inflating his already bulging chest, so that the buttons on his waistcoat threatened to burst off, "I've prepared a few potions for you to have a look at, just out of interest, you know. These are the kind of things you ought to be able to make after completing your N.E.W.T.s. You ought to have heard of 'em, even if you haven't made 'em yet. Anyone tell me what this one is?"

He indicated the cauldron nearest the Slytherin table. Helena raised her hand before anyone else could stand to see it. Slughorn pointed at her.

"Yes, Miss…"

"Williams, sir," said Helena. "It's Veritaserum, a colourless, odourless potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth."

"Very good, very good," said Slughorn happily. "Now," he continued, pointing at the cauldron nearest the Ravenclaw table, "this one here is pretty well-known… featured in a few Ministry leaflets lately, too… Miss Williams?"

Helena craned her neck to see inside the second cauldron. It contained a slow-bubbling, mudlike substance.

"It's Polyjuice Potion, sir," she said.

"Excellent, excellent! Now, this one here… yes, my dear?" said Slughorn, as Hermione's hand shot into the hair, eager to answer one the questions.

"It's Amortentia!"

"It is indeed. I assume you know what it does?"

"It's the most powerful love potion in the world!" said Hermione.

"Quite right! You recognised it, I suppose, by its distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen?"

"And the steam rising in characteristic spirals," said Hermione enthusiastically, "and it's supposed to smell differently to each of us, according to what attracts us, and I can smell freshly mown grass and new parchment and-"

But she turned slightly pink and did not complete the sentence.

"May I ask your name, my dear?" asked Slughorn, ignoring Hermione's embarrassment.

"Hermione Granger, sir."

"Granger? Granger? Can you possibly be related to Hector Dagworth-Granger, who founded the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers?"

"No, I don't think so, sir. I'm Muggle-born, you see."

Malfoy whispered something to Nott and they both sniggered. Helena shot them a filthy look which Malfoy returned. Slughorn didn't notice; he was beaming and looked from Hermione to Harry, who was sitting next to her.

"Oho! '_One of my best friends is Muggle-born and she's the best in our year!_' I'm assuming this is the very friend of whom you spoke, Harry?"

"Yes, sir," said Harry.

As Professor Slughorn praised Hermione, Helena took a deep sniff in the direction of the cauldron. Whiffs of daphnes and roast dinners reached her and she looked down at the table, smiling.

"Amortentia doesn't really create _love_, of course," continued Slughorn. "It is impossible to manufacture or imitate love. No, this will simply cause a powerful infatuation or obsession. It is probably the most dangerous and powerful potion in this room – oh, yes," he said, nodding gravely at Malfoy and Nott, both of whom were smirking sceptically. "When you have seen as much of life as I have, you will not underestimate the power of obsessive love…

And now," said Slughorn, "it is time for us to start work."

"Sir, you haven't told us what's in that one," said Ernie Macmillan, pointing at a small black cauldron standing on Slughorn's desk. The potion with was splashing about merrily; it was the colour of molten gold, and large drops were leaping like goldfish above the surface, though not a particle had spilled.

"Oho," said Slughorn again. "Yes. That. Well, _that_ one, ladies and gentlemen, is a most curious little potion called Felix Felicis."

Helena gasped.

"I take it that you know what Felix Felicis does, Miss Williams?"

"It's liquid luck," said Helena excitedly. "It makes you lucky!"

The whole class seemed to sit up a little straighter. One the other side of the table, Malfoy was suddenly paying Slughorn his fullest and undivided attention.

"Quite right, take 10 points for Slytherin. Yes, it's a funny little potion, Felix Felicis," said Slughorn. "Desperately tricky to make, and disastrous to get wrong. However, if brewed correctly, as this has been, you will find that all your endeavours tend to succeed… at least until the effects wear off."

"Why don't people drink it all the time, sir?" said Terry Boot eagerly.

"Because if taken in excess, it causes giddiness, recklessness and dangerous overconfidence," said Slughorn. "Too much of a good thing, you know… highly toxic in large quantities. But taken sparingly, and very occasionally…"

"Have you ever taken it, sir?" asked Michael Corner with great interest.

"Twice in my life," said Slughorn. "Once when I was twenty-four, once when I was fifty-seven. Two tablespoons taken with breakfast. Two perfect days." He gazed dreamily into the distance.

"And that," said Slughorn, apparently coming back to earth, "is what I shall be offering as a prize in this lesson."

There was a silence in which every bubble and gurgle of the surrounding potions seemed magnified tenfold.

"One tiny bottle of Felix Felicis," said Slughorn, taking a miniscule glass bottle with a cork in it out his pocket and showing it to them all. "Enough for twelve hours' luck. From dawn till dusk, you will be lucky in everything you attempt.

Now, I must give you warning that Felix Felicis is a banned substance in organised competitions… sporting events, for instance, examinations or elections. So the winner is to use it on an ordinary day only… and watch how that ordinary day becomes extraordinary!

So," said Slughorn, suddenly brisk, "how are you to win my fabulous prize? Well, by turning to page ten of _Advanced Potion-Making_. We have a little over an hour left to us, which should be time for you to make a decent attempt at the Draught of Living Death. I know it is more complex than anything you have attempted before, and I do not expect a perfect potion from anybody. The person who does the best, however, will win little Felix here. Off you go!"

There was a scraping as everyone drew their cauldrons towards them, and some loud clunks as people began adding weights to their scales, but nobody spoke. The concentration within the room was almost tangible. Opposite, Malfoy was riffling feverishly through his copy of _Advanced Potion-Making_.

Helena opened her copy of _Advanced Potion-Making_ and read over the recipe before beginning to cut up her valerian roots. She watched Malfoy work out of the corner of her eye; as much as she hated to admit it, he was better at Potions than her and she had learned a couple of tricks from watching him work.

Within ten minutes, the whole place was full of bluish steam.

"Sir, I think you knew my grandfather, Abraxas Malfoy?"

Helena looked up; Slughorn was just passing their table.

"Yes," said Slughorn, without looking at Malfoy, "I was sorry to hear he had died, although of course it wasn't unexpected, dragon pox at his age…" He headed over to Helena and peered into her cauldron.

"Williams… You're not related to the Puddlemere United seeker, Benjy Williams, are you?" asked Slughorn.

"I'm also a Muggle-born, sir," said Helena, "so I don't think so." She started chopping up the Sopophorous Bean as Professor Slughorn walked away. She poured the juice into her cauldron and it turned the exact shade of lilac as the book described. The next step was to stir the potion counter-clockwise until it turned clear as water. She kept stirring but the lilac shade wouldn't lighten. She looked around at the other's cauldrons. Malfoy's potion seemed to be stuck on the same lilac shade as her own, Zabini's potion was still a dark purple and Nott's was a disaster; it had the colour and , from what Helena could see, the texture of vomit.

"And time's… up!" called Slughorn. "Stop stirring, please!"

Slughorn moved slowly between the tables, peering into cauldrons. He made no comment, but occasionally gave the potions a stir, or a sniff. When he saw Harry's potion a look of incredulous delight spread over his face.

"The clear winner!" he cried to the dungeon. "Excellent, excellent, Harry! Good lord, it's clear you've inherited your mother's talent, she was a dab hand at Potions, Lily was! Here you are, then, here you are – one bottle of Felix Felicis, as promised, and use it well."

They way that Malfoy was fuming, Helena was surprised that smoke didn't come out his ears. Blaise and Nott were giving Harry dirty looks as he left the dungeon but Helena said, "Congrats," as he passed her. He smiled uncertainly at her and said, "Thanks."

Malfoy must've heard her because when they were leaving the classroom he shoved her into the doorframe. Seeing as she had already received a detention that day she refrained from cursing him; she'd get him back another time.


	6. Chapter Five

A few mornings later, Helena was reaching across the table to spoon some eggs onto her toast when a little Slytherin first-year came and stood by her.

"Can I help you?" she asked her. The girl held out an envelope. Helena took it then the first-year ran away to her friends at the other end of the table. She opened the envelope and pulled out the letter from inside. It was an invitation from Professor Slughorn for a dinner party. Helena looked up and down the table, and saw a couple of other Slytherins opening identical envelopes. Flora and Hestia Carrow, who were sitting just down the table from her, had received invitations and so had Melinda Bobbin and Blaise Zabini.

"What's that?" asked Mason as he sat down opposite her at the Slytherin table. Helena passed it over to him and started piling up toast, eggs and bacon on a plate for him.

"So where's mine?" asked Mason, starting on his breakfast.

"I guess your family isn't as influential as mine," joked Helena. "I don't know why he's invited me."

"You're the smartest in our year," said Mason, "of course Slughorn would invite you."

"Second smartest," Helena corrected him, "and why is he having dinner parties for students anyway?"

"I've heard that he collects students," said Mason. When Helena raised her eyebrows at him he added, "Talented students or students with influential families."

"Why?" asked Helena.

"He gives them a leg-up in their careers so that he can reap the benefits once they become well-connected," explained Mason. "Or at least that's what I heard from what Hannah Abbott's mum told her."

So when it came to dinner time that evening she stayed in the dormitory to get ready while Daphne and Tracey left for dinner in the Great Hall. She changed out of her robes into a black blazer, jeans and a pair of black boots. She let her hair out and brushed it then practiced a spell from Transfiguration until it was time to leave. She was meeting Melinda Bobbin in the common room and when she left her dorm she was already waiting for her downstairs. She greeted her then they headed up to the sixth floor where Slughorn's office was located.

They knocked on the door and it was swung open immediately to reveal a beaming Slughorn.

"Come in, come in," he boomed, ushering them through the door into his office. He pointed them over to a round table had been set up in the middle of the room where several students were already seated. Helena sat down next to Hermione Granger and Melinda sat beside her.

"Now, now," said Professor Slughorn. "Let me first make sure that you all know each other." He then proceeded to introduce each of them to the rest of the table before he waved his wand and a magnificent dinner appeared.

Over the course of the meal, Helena learned why each of them had been invited. Blaise Zabini's mother was a beautiful witch who had been married and widowed at least seven times and thus inherited a great deal of gold from her former husbands. Cormac McLaggen, a lanky seventh-year from Gryffindor, had an uncle who was well-connected within the Ministry of Magic. Flora and Hestia Carrow came from a powerful pureblood family and Melinda's family owned a large chain of apothecaries. Ginny Weasley was there due to a particularly great Bat-Bogey Hex that was witnessed by Slughorn and Hermione Granger was there for the same reason as Helena – she was very intelligent. It also appeared that Harry Potter had been invited but was unable to attend as he was serving detention with Professor Snape.

Before they had dessert, Slughorn insisted that they all switch seats as to get to know each other better. Helena didn't want to sit near Zabini; he was an arse just like Malfoy and the rest of his cronies so she tried to get between Hestia and Ginny but Melinda took the seat before she could, forcing her to sit between Cormac McLaggen and Zabini. Zabini was completely ignoring her and everyone else so Helena was forced to turn and talk to McLaggen.

"So…" said Helena. She wasn't particularly comfortable with the way McLaggen was looking at her. He was licking his dessert spoon slowly while looking into her eyes.

"You're in Slytherin, right?" he asked.

"Yup," said Helena.

"And you're a Muggle-born?" he asked.

Helena sighed. "Yup. The first of my kind," she said.

"So that means you're pretty special," said McLaggen, moving closer to her.

"Yeah, getting shit from all the pure-blood bigots in my own common room is really special," said Helena sarcastically.

McLaggen was taken aback. Helena hadn't meant to swear; at home in Wales it wasn't out of place but at Hogwarts she found that no one ever used bad language.

"What? I'm Welsh," she justified to McLaggen.

He turned around and started talking to Hermione on his other side. Helena didn't mind; she felt more sorry for Hermione as it seemed that McLaggen was now trying to flirt with her instead. She tucked into her ice cream and eavesdropped on McLaggen's cringe-worthy seducing techniques. She looked over and saw a slightly pained expression on Hermione's face and, seeing as the dinner party was getting boring, she decided to help her out. She slipped her wand out of her pocket and aimed it at McLaggen under the table. He took a piece of cake from the table and had several large bites. Helena thought that would the perfect time to hit him with a Hives Hex to make it look as though he had an allergic reaction to the cake. And it worked.

"Oh dear," cried Slughorn when he saw the hives forming all over McLaggen's face. "Looks like you've got some allergies! You had better get to the hospital wing! Zabini, why don't you help McLaggen there?" Zabini didn't look happy but he stood up and followed McLaggen from the office. Helena doubted that he'd accompany McLaggen anywhere, he'd probably ditch him at the end of the corridor and head back to the dungeons.

Hermione jumped over into McLaggen's seat.

"Did you do that?" she whispered to Helena.

Helena shrugged. "I think he just had an allergic reaction," she said, but her smile made it obvious to Hermione that she had done it. "Lucky, don't you think? You didn't seem to be enjoying his flirting."

"I – I wasn't… He's vile," said Hermione quietly.

Helena laughed. "You're welcome then," she said.

"I didn't know that you two were friends!" boomed Slughorn from across the table, looking at Helena and Hermione. "Of course I assumed the two smartest girls in the sixth-year would always be competing against each other, especially seeing as your houses are fierce rivals!"

"Oh… we're not… that close," said Hermione.

There was an awkward silence.

"Like you said, Professor, Slytherins and Gryffindors are fierce rivals," Helena swooped in, "but we certainly aren't enemies. However, I look forward to the day when I get a better grade in an Arithmancy paper than her," she joked.

Slughorn guffawed, not even noticing the awkward silence, then went back to telling Ginny Weasley all about the famous Quidditch players who he used to teach.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" said Hermione.

"Don't worry about it," Helena reassured her. "We can still chat, even if we're not friends. Besides, I get enough garbage from the other Slytherins about being Muggle-born; if we were friends it would just be adding fuel to the fire."

"That must be tough," said Hermione.

"It's not so bad anymore," Helena told her. "It's mostly just Malfoy and the rest of his little gang. Do you reckon we'll be able to leave soon?"

Hermione looked up at the clock.

"I hope so," she said. "I still have to finish my essay for Ancient Runes."

Just then Slughorn jumped up.

"Look at the time!" he declared. "It's past your curfew! We better call it a night!"

Everyone stood up and tried not to rush as they left Slughorn's office. Helena joined Melinda, Hestia and Flora to head back to the Slytherin common room.


	7. Chapter Six

Over the next few weeks, Helena tried to keep an eye on Malfoy but, from what she could tell, he wasn't up to anything suspicious. The N.E.W.T. work was a lot harder than everyone had expected and Helena decided to let her 'task' from Voldemort take a back seat. She told herself that there was nothing she could do for now, and reasoned that Voldemort would not be able to know exactly what she was doing. Besides, with the N.E.W.T. workload, she didn't have time to follow Malfoy everywhere to find out what he was doing.

Although the new work was much harder than last year, Helena was finding it easy enough to keep up in class. She had studied the theory of several of the spells that they were learning the year before and over the summer. However, she was struggling to keep up with her usual hobby of teaching herself more advanced spells and charms than they were currently learning. This worried her; she wanted to learn more advanced defensive magic so that when she left Hogwarts for the holidays she'd be able to defend herself and her parents against Death Eaters should they come knocking.

She had an idea during a Transfiguration lesson that perhaps she could ask a teacher to help her learn some more advanced magic out of class. Professor McGonagall was teaching them how to conjure birds out of thin air and Helena was the first to successfully perform the spell, even though she only conjured one bird at first. McGonagall awarded her twenty points for Slytherin and Helena spent the rest of the lesson practicing, helping Mason with his wandwork and at one stage casting 'Oppugno' non-verbally to make a couple of birds perched on the rafters to dive on Nott and Malfoy. McGonagall vanished the birds immediately, asking the whole class to be careful with the charm rather than try and find out who had set the birds on them.

After the lesson, Helena lingered behind and approached McGonagall to ask her about extra lessons.

"Can I help you with something, Miss Williams?" asked McGonagall.

"Er, yes, Professor," said Helena. "You see, I've read about all the deaths and disappearances in the _Daily Prophet_ and I'm worried that when I go home from Hogwarts I'll be a target for the Death Eaters."

McGonagall sighed. "Yes," she said. "It is entirely possible that you may be, especially considering your House."

"Well, I want to be able to protect myself and my family," said Helena. "I was hoping that you might consider giving me extra lessons, just once a week or something, so that I can learn some more advanced defensive magic."

"Have you asked Professor Snape?" asked McGonagall. "Defence Against the Dark Arts is his subject, not mine."

"I haven't," said Helena. "I didn't think that he would agree to it," she admitted.

The door to the classroom opened and a bunch of seventh-years started to come inside.

"I'll ask Professor Snape," said McGonagall, "and I'll recommend that he agrees."

"Thank you, Professor," said Helena, and she exited the classroom then rushed off to Charms class.

A couple of days later, Helena received a note from Professor Snape to go down to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom before the Hogsmeade visit.

"Professor McGonagall informed me that you're interested in having extra Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons," he said.

"Yes, Professor," said Helena. "I need to learn more advanced defensive magic if I'm going to be able to protect myself and my family from… the Death Eaters."

Snape's eyes narrowed slightly, then he said, "Come to my office on Thursday at eight for your first lesson."

"Thank you, Professor," said Helena quickly, and she rushed from the classroom before he could change his mind.

Mason was waiting for her outside. "What did he want?" he asked, doubting that she had gotten into trouble for anything.

"He's giving me extra lessons," Helena told him.

"Really? Why would anyone want more lessons with Snape?" asked Mason. He gave an exaggerated shudder.

"He's going to teach me some more advanced magic," said Helena. "He obviously agrees that I need to know more to defend myself against Death Eaters."

"Why can't Snape or Dumbledore get the Ministry to hide your family?" asked Mason.

"They obviously don't trust the Ministry," said Helena. "Most likely it's already been infiltrated by the Death Eaters."

They met up with Blake, Jasmine and Holly so they stopped talking about it and headed down to Hogsmeade. They got their shopping done first then headed went to the Three Broomsticks for a warm butterbeer to try and wait out the fierce snow outside. When it finally slowed, they quickly headed back to the castle and Helena left the others to go back to the Slytherin common room.

She sat down with a copy of _Practical Defensive Magic and Its Use Against the Dark Arts_ in one of the armchairs opposite Malfoy who was working on his Transfiguration homework. A group of seventh-years came in and one of them came and sat down next to Helena.

"Hey, Williams," he said. Helena looked up from her book. "Did you hear about Katie Bell from Gryffindor?"

"No, what happened?" she asked concernedly.

"She was on her way back from Hogsmeade and she was cursed," the seventh-year (whose name Helena didn't know) told her. "She's been sent to St Mungo's." Malfoy suddenly stood up, dropping his homework to the floor, and rushed out of the common room.

"Excuse me," Helena said to the seventh-year and walked quickly after Malfoy. He wasn't in the corridor outside the common room but Helena thought that she could hear the echo of footsteps to her left and followed them. The sound of footsteps faded but she stopped outside the boys bathroom, pushing the door slightly open to hear if Malfoy was inside. She was so shocked by what she heard that she had to look inside to check it was really Malfoy. It was him and he was sobbing.

She backed out of the bathroom, almost let the door bang closed but catching it just in time then rushed back to the common room.

Malfoy's ink bottle was lying on its side and the ink was seeping into the carpet so Helena picked it up and siphoned the ink off the carpet and back into the bottle. Then she scooped up Malfoy's homework, having a quick snoop at what he had written. No wonder he had been doing a Transfiguration detention earlier that day; his work was appalling.

Malfoy had been in detention – he couldn't have cursed Katie Bell. Unless he got someone else to do it for him, but that would mean that there were others in on Voldemort's task.

She was still reading Malfoy's terrible Transfiguration essay when he came back into the common room. She didn't notice him going over to pick up his homework and then looking for it when it wasn't where he had dropped it.

"Oi!" he yelled at Helena when he saw her reading it. He snatched it out of her hands. "What are you doing?"

"You dropped it," said Helena coolly. Draco sneered at her then pushed past her to get his inkpot and quill. "That essay's going to fail," muttered Helena as she headed back to her chair.

"You do it then," Malfoy retorted. Helena stopped. Maybe this was her chance to do something to help Malfoy. She couldn't help him with his task seeing as she couldn't figure out what it was, but he'd have more time for the mystery task if he wasn't spending every evening and weekend in detention.

She turned around. "Give it here then," she said. He stared at her. She went over to him. "I'm sure you have better things to do than serving detention, and I'm sick of the way you and your friends treat me."

"What that's got to with it?" snapped Malfoy.

Helena rolled her eyes. "I'll make a deal with you," she said. "You leave me alone and if you're too busy, I'll-" she took a deep breath –"do your homework for you."

Malfoy frowned at her, perhaps wondering what made her think that he was too busy to do his own homework.

"Deal," he said through gritted teeth and thrust his homework back into her hands. "Don't get caught," he added as he stalked off.

"You either," she said as he passed her. She felt him pause, this time definitely suspicious that she knew something, but he said nothing and headed up to the boys' dormitory. Helena went up her to dormitory to get her copy of _A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration_ and an inkpot and quill then went back downstairs and started rewriting Malfoy's essay from scratch. She had to be careful that it wasn't too similar to her own and she used the essay Malfoy had already written to figure out the way that he wrote. It only took her a few hours to finish then she put it on the table for Malfoy to pick up later and continued reading _Practical Defensive Magic and Its Use Against the Dark Arts_ until it was time for dinner.

After dinner Helena headed to Professor Snape's office for the first of her extra lessons with him. She was ten minutes early and waited until her watch clicked over to eight before knocking on the door.

"Enter," came Snape's voice from inside. Helena took a deep breath, pushed open the door and went in. Snape was sitting at his desk and he gestured to a desk and chair set up in the middle of the office. Helena hung her bag on the back of the chair then sat down. There was a book sitting on the desk and she picked it up. It was a book on O.W.L. defensive magic which Helena assumed was the book they would've studied from the previous year if they had not had Umbridge as a teacher.

"Turn to page twenty-two," said Professor Snape, not looking up from the essays he was grading. She flicked open to a chapter on the Shield Charm.

"I can already perform a shield charm, sir," said Helena. In a split second Snape had his wand out and was aiming it at Helena. She reached for her wand in her pocket but it was too late and she was knocked off her chair.

"Obviously not," sneered Professor Snape as Helena pulled herself up off the ground, brushing dust off her robes furiously.

"I wasn't ready, sir," said Helena as calmly as she could muster.

"Exactly," said Snape, sitting back down and continuing to read the essays. Helena too sat back down, taking another deep breath, and started to read the chapter on Shield Charms. She finished it quickly as she already knew it all but she read it twice just to make sure. Then she looked up at Snape, waiting for him to say something.

"I'm finished, Professor," she said after waiting for a full minute. Snape put down the essay he was grading and stood up from his desk. He gestured for Helena to stand and then flicked his wand making the desk and chair move across the room.

"Expelliarmus!" cried Snape. Helena flung up her wand and cried,

"Protego!" Snape's spell reflected back at him but he too reflected it away. He threw another spell at her.

"Stupefy!" Helena blocked it and Snape flicked his wand again, this time saying nothing. It was a non-verbal spell and Helena wasn't expecting it. She didn't have time to say the spell but managed to perform the shield charm non-verbally. There were no words of praise from Snape however, and he waved his wand again, continuing to throw spells at her. Helena struggled to keep up; Snape was too fast and his third Stunning Spell hit her right in the chest. She flew across the room and was knocked unconscious. When she came to, Snape was sitting back down at his desk. Helena slowly got up off the ground, rubbing her shoulder that she must've hit against the shelf on the wall.

"If you are going to defend yourself, you will need to be faster than that," said Snape, not looking up. "That's all for tonight." He waved is wand and the door swung open. Helena collected her bag and left the room. The door to Snape's office closed behind her and she headed back to the common room.


	8. Chapter Seven

The following morning Helena went down to breakfast to find Mason so she could tell him about Snape's lesson. He was surrounded by half of the other sixth-year Ravenclaws but when he saw Helena approaching he immediately pushed Anthony Goldstein along the bench to make room for her. He patted the spot he had cleared and Helena sat down.

"Hey," he greeted her. "How was your lesson with Snape?" he whispered to her so the others didn't hear.

"It was… interesting," Helena told him. She rubbed her sore shoulder. "I think they will really help though," she said.

"That's good," said Mason. "Have you hurt your shoulder?"

"Yeah, I banged it. Can you pass me the muffins?" Mason reached out for the bowl but Blake Cooper grabbed them first and passed them over.

"Here you go," said Blake, smiling at her.

"Thanks," said Helena, taking a muffin and buttering it. Mason snatched it off her plate so she grabbed another one for herself, slapping away his hand darting onto her plate again.

After breakfast Helena had Arithmancy followed by Herbology. Helena was working with Daphne and Tracey on that term's project of gnarled Snargaluff stumps. Wearing protective gloves and goggles, they had to fight the plant and reach into a hole in the stump to retrieve a pulsating green pod the size of a grapefruit which they then had to juice. Helena took on the role of juicer seeing as her shoulder was still sore.

Once they had finished juicing the Snargaluff stumps they trudged back up to the castle for their free period and Helena and Mason went to the library so she could tell him about Snape's lesson in more detail.

The next morning at breakfast the Great Hall was buzzing with excitement for the first Quidditch match of the season. The other Slytherins hissed and booed loudly as every member of the Gryffindor team entered the Hall.

"Hey," said Daphne, coming to sit beside her. "Did you hear? Vaisey can't play and he's our best goal-scorer! Plus Malfoy's out sick and Harper's playing for him instead."

"What's wrong with Malfoy?" asked Helena. Last time he was sick he had the whole match postponed so that he could play. It wasn't like him to let someone else take the limelight of being Seeker. Perhaps he was taking the opportunity to do Voldemort's task while everyone was watching the game.

"I don't know," said Daphne. "But we're probably gonna lose." She slumped onto the table, looking disappointed.

"At least it's a good day for the game," said Helena, trying to cheer her up. "We could still win."

"Maybe," sighed Daphne.

Helena looked up and down the table and noticed that Crabbe and Goyle weren't at breakfast. She thought that Malfoy must have accomplices and it made sense that it would be them.

"I'll see you at the game," said Helena, even though she had no intention of going at all. She was going to find out if Malfoy really was sick and, if not, what he was actually up to.

She left the Slytherin table and headed down to the hospital wing. She poked her head in and it was empty, just as she thought. She tried the common room next; she stood outside the boys dormitory and used the Homenum Revelio Charm. Nothing happened, meaning that there was nobody inside. Now all she needed to do was wait until everyone had gone down to the Quidditch pitch then she could use the charm again while walking around the school to locate where Malfoy was. She waited in her dormitory until she could hear everyone going down to the pitch then, starting in the dungeons, she looked for Malfoy. It took almost half an hour for the charm to show anyone. She was on the sixth floor and the spell indicated that there were two people located above her on the seventh floor. She ran up the stairs then snuck along the corridor. Peering around the corner, she was surprised to see two little first-year girls that she recognised from her own house. They were leaning against the wall, one of them holding a set of brass scales. Helena was confused; Malfoy wouldn't have two little girls standing lookout for him and besides, her spell didn't indicate that he was anywhere near. She decided to wait to see if he showed up but nothing happened. Eventually she heard the huge cheer that meant that someone had caught the snitch and ended the Quidditch game. The little girls turned around to look at the wall. Something was appearing on the wall. Helena watched as an entire door grew on the wall and Malfoy came out. He left and the first-years followed him. As soon as they were out of sight Helena ran over to the door but it disappeared before she reached it.

She pulled out her wand.

"Specialis Revelio." She waved her wand at the wall but nothing happened. She tried every spell she knew to try and make the door appear again but nothing worked. This was the closest she had come so far to finding out what Malfoy was doing but rather than feeling relieved, she felt nervous. Now that she knew where he was going, she would have to really try and find out what he was doing.

The sounds of cheers and footsteps came from the ground floor of the castle so Helena headed back to the common room to how the match had gone. Judging by the atmosphere in the common room they had lost badly.

Malfoy wasn't in the common room but the two first-years he was with were. Helena went and sat near them and was confused when she heard them discussing the Quidditch match. She looked up and saw Malfoy entering the common room with Crabbe and Goyle. She stared at them until Malfoy noticed and she hastily looked away. She leaned over to the first-years.

"Hey, what happened at the game?" she asked them.

"It was terrible," said one of them. "We didn't get any goals and then Harper fumbled the snitch and Potter got caught it."

"We lost so bad," said the other girl. They looked really disappointed as they headed up to their dormitory.

Now Helena was really confused. If they had been at the game, how could they also be-

"Oh!"

Of course Malfoy wasn't using first-years to stand guard for him – he must be using Polyjuice Potion to turn Crabbe and Goyle into first-years. She couldn't help but smile; they surely wouldn't be pleased with Malfoy for that.


	9. Chapter Eight

Over the next few weeks Helena spent most of her time in the library looking for anything that would help her get into the mysterious room on the seventh floor. She found books on unplottable rooms and rooms that can only be seen by people who know they exist, but nothing about how to get into them. Unless she was able to sneak in at the same time as Malfoy entered the room – which was impossible, as there was no way that he wouldn't see her – there was no way she'd be able to get in to see what he was doing. She eventually had to give up looking for answers; she was falling behind in her homework and she still had some of Malfoy's homework to finish before the Christmas holidays.

In the last Transfiguration lesson of the term they were beginning to embark on the difficult topic of human transfiguration. They were sitting in front of mirrors as they tried to change the colour of their own eyebrows. Once Professor McGonagall had taught them the theory of the spell, the rest of the lesson was fairly laid-back as everyone couldn't help but make fun of each other's attempts. It was more difficult than Helena had anticipated and some of the other students experienced bizarre changes to their faces before someone finally managed to change the colour of their eyebrows. Ron Weasley gave himself a magnificent handlebar moustache on his first attempt and Susan Bones managed to make her eyebrows disappear entirely. However, by the end of the lesson Helena had managed to colour her eyebrows like rainbows and Mason was trying to convince her to keep them that way.

"They'll look great at Slughorn's party," reckoned Mason.

"I already told you, I'm not going," said Helena, trying to get her eyebrows back to the right shade of black. "Is there a way to get them back to natural?" she asked.

Mason flicked through _A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration_ and pointed out a spell to undo any changes and she quickly used it on her eyebrows before the bell rang and class ended. Then she packed up her things and headed to the bathroom before her next class.

While she was washing her hands she could hear sobbing from one of the cubicles and she knocked on the door.

"Are you alright in there?" she asked. The door opened and Hermione Granger came out, wiping her eyes.

"I'm fine," she said and went over to the sink to wash her face. Helena gave her an awkward pat on her back before Hermione left the bathroom. Helena left a few moments later and almost walked straight into Harry Potter.

"One of your eyebrows is yellow," she said as she passed him. Harry watched her go then remembered that Hermione had said that she was also in the Slug Club.

"Hey, wait!" he called after her. She turned around as he caught up with her. "I was just wondering… uh… have you already asked someone to Slughorn's Christmas party tonight?" Helena was totally taken aback.

"I… no, I haven't," she said. "But I wasn't planning on going," she added.

"Oh," said Harry. "I was, uh, just thinking that if neither of us had a date…" He trailed off, slightly embarrassed. "You know, we could go as friends…"

Friends? He had barely ever spoken to her before.

"Um… OK," said Helena, not even sure why she was agreeing. "I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall at eight."

"Great," said Harry, looking relieved. He turned to leave.

"Harry?"

He looked back at Helena who had taken out her wand.

"Can I fix your eyebrow for you?" she asked. Harry nodded and she flicked her wand. "See you," she said and they went their separate ways.

Helena sat opposite Daphne and Tracey at dinner. Daphne was also attending Slughorn's party, having been invited by Zabini. She was obviously excited, especially since she secretly fancied Blaise, but she was pretending otherwise. Tracey, who hadn't been invited, looked quite sour and kept making comments about how lame she expected the party would be. Helena let them think she was going alone, rather than tell them she was going with Harry Potter. Of course Daphne would find out once they arrived, and then she'd tell Tracey, but it seemed easier for them to find out rather than telling them herself.

She and Daphne left dinner early and went back to their dormitory to get ready. Helena chose her black dress to wear. The top half of the dress was black lace with a scoop neckline and long sleeves, and beneath the empire hemline was a slightly poufy short black skirt embellished with gold sequins. She tied her hair back in a braided bun, put on some little gold earrings and topped up her make-up, using a little more lip gloss and mascara than usual.

Daphne was still doing her hair but it was almost eight so Helena slipped on a pair of shiny black heels and left her dorm.

The buzz coming from the common room meant that everyone was back from dinner. As Helena came to the bottom of the stairs, the chatter turned to whispers as everyone turned to get a look at her. She saw Zabini wearing dress robes, waiting for Daphne as she hurried across the room, and tried not to trip while everyone was watching her.

When she reached the Entrance Hall, Harry was already waiting for her in dress robes matching those of Zabini. There were a large number of girls lurking around, all of them staring resentfully at Helena as she approached. Helena was surprised to find herself thinking how handsome Harry looked.

"Hi," he greeted her. "Shall we get going then?"

Helena nodded. They headed up the marble staircase, away from all the staring and muttering. The sounds of laughter, music and loud conversation grew louder as they drew nearer to Slughorn's office.

They went inside and found that Slughorn had used magical trickery to make his office appear much larger than usual. The ceilings and walls had been draped with emerald, crimson and gold hangings, so that it looked as though they were all inside a vast tent. The room was crowded and stuffy and bathed in the red light cast by an ornate golden lamp dangling from the centre of the centre in which real fairies were fluttering, each a brilliant speck of light. Loud singing accompanied by what sounded like mandolins issued from a distant corner; a haze of pipe smoke hung over several elderly warlocks deep in conversation, and a number of house-elves were negotiating their way squeakily through the forest of knees, obscured by the heavy silver platters of food they were bearing, so that they looked like little roving tables.

"Harry, m'boy!" boomed Slughorn, almost as soon as Harry and Helena had squeezed in through the door. "Come in, come in, so many people I'd like you to meet!"

Slughorn was wearing a tasselled velvet hat to match his smoking jacket. Gripping Harry's arm so tightly he might have been hoping to Disapparate with him, Slughorn led him purposefully into the party; Harry seized Helena's hand and dragged her along with him.

"Harry, I'd like you to meet Eldred Worple, an old student of mine," Slughorn shouted over the noise. "Of course you know who he is." Harry looked blank but luckily Helena stepped in.

"He's the author of _Blood Brothers: My Life Among the Vampires_," she said. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, Miss Williams, I didn't see you there," said Slughorn. "You are quite right. And of course, this is his friend, Sanguini."

Worple, who was a small, bespectacled man, grabbed Harry's hand and shook it enthusiastically then held out his hand to Helena. Harry was still gripping her right hand but she wriggled free and shook Worple's hand. The vampire, Sanguini, who was tall and emaciated with dark shadows under his eyes, merely nodded. He looked rather bored. A gaggle of girls was standing close to him, looking curious and excited.

"Harry Potter, I am simply delighted!" said Worple, peering short-sightedly up into Harry's face. "I was saying to Professor Slughorn only the other day, _Where is the biography of Harry Potter for which we have all been waiting_?"

"Er," said Harry, "were you?"

"Just as modest as Horace described!" said Worple. "But seriously–" his manner changed; it became suddenly business-like, "I would be delighted to write it myself – people are craving to know more about you, dear boy, craving! If you were prepared to grant me a few interview, say in four- or five-hour sessions, why, we could have the book finished within months. And all with very little effort on your part, I assure you – ask Sanguini here if it isn't quite – _Sanguini, stay here!"_ added Worple, suddenly stern, for the vampire had been edging towards the nearby group of girls, a rather hungry look in his eye. "Here, have a pasty," said Worple, seizing one from a passing elf and stuffing it into Sanguini's hand before turning his attention back to Harry.

"My dear boy, the gold you could make, you have no idea–"

"I'm definitely not interested," said Harry firmly, "and I've just seen a friend of mine, sorry."

He grabbed Helena's hand once more and pulled her into the crowd; he had indeed just seen a long mane of brown hair disappear between what looked like two members of the Weird Sisters,

"Hermione! _Hermione!"_

"Harry! There you are, thank goodness! Oh, hi Helena."

"What's happened to you?" asked Harry, for Hermione looked distinctly dishevelled, rather as though she had just had fought her way out of a thicket of Devil's Snare.

"Oh, I've just escaped – I mean, I've just left Cormac," she said. "Under the mistletoe," she added in explanation, as Harry continued to look questioningly at her.

"Serves you right for coming with him," he told her severely.

"I thought he'd annoy Ron the most," said Hermione dispassionately. "I debated for a while about Zacharias Smith, but I thought, on the whole–"

_"__You considered Smith?"_ said Harry, revolted.

"Yes I did, and I'm starting to wish I'd chosen him, McLaggen makes Grawp look like a gentleman. Let's go this way, we'll be able to see him coming, he's so tall…"

The three of them made their way over to the other side of the room, scooping up goblets of mead on the way. Helena looked around the room and her eyes met Daphne's. She gestured for her to come over once she saw that she was with Harry.

"Excuse me for a moment," said Helena and she went over to Daphne and Zabini.

"What are you doing hanging around with the 'Chosen One' and that bushy-haired know-it-all?" she asked. Blaise laughed and Daphne looked pleased with herself.

"The 'Chosen One' asked me to come with him tonight," she confessed.

"And you said yes?" Daphne looked appalled. "Why?"

"I felt sorry for him." It was a lie, but there would be no other acceptable answer in Daphne's mind. "I better get back," said Helena. She pushed her way back through the crowd, reaching Harry just as Hermione rushed off again and Cormac McLaggen appeared.

"Seen Hermione?" he asked.

"No, sorry," said Harry, and he turned quickly to Helena. Unfortunately she was standing next to a dizzy Professor Trelawney.

"Harry Potter!" said Professor Trelawney in deep, vibrant tones. Helena was completely ignored again.

"Oh, hello," said Harry unenthusiastically.

"My dear boy!" she said in a very carrying whisper. "The rumours! The stories! The Chosen One! Of course, I have known for a very long time… the omens were never good, Harry… but why have you not returned to Divination? For you, of all people, the subject is of the utmost importance!"

"Ah, Sybill, we all think our subject's most important!" said a loud voice, and Slughorn appeared at Professor Trelawney's other side, his face very red, his velvet hat a little askew, a glass of mead in one hand and an enormous mince pie in the other. "But I don't think I've ever known such a natural at Potions!" said Slughorn, regarding Harry with a fond, if bloodshot, eye. "Instinctive, you know – like his mother! I've only ever taught a few with this kind of ability, I can tell you that, Sybill – why, even Severus–"

Slughorn threw out an arm and seemed to scoop Snape out of thin air towards them.

"Stop sulking and come and join us, Severus!" hiccoughed Slughorn happily. "I was just talking about Harry's exceptional potion-making! Some credit must go to you, of course, you taught him for five years."

Trapped, with Slughorn's arm around his shoulders, Snape looked down his hooked nose at Harry, his black eyes narrowed.

"Funny, I never had the impression that I managed to teach Potter anything at all."

"Well, then, it's natural ability!" shouted Slughorn. "You should have seen what he gave me, first lesson, the Draught of Living Death – never had a student produce finer on a first attempt, I don't even think you, Severus–"

"Really?" said Snape quietly, his eyes still boring into Harry.

"Remind me what other subjects you're taking, Harry?" asked Slughorn.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology…"

"All the subjects required, in short, for an Auror," said Snape, with the faintest sneer.

"Yeah, well, that's what I'd like to be," said Harry defiantly.

"And a great one you'll make, too!" boomed Slughorn. "As would you, Helena," he added, having just noticed her. But Helena was looking past him and Harry followed her gaze, a grin forming on his face. Draco was being dragged by the ear towards them by Argus Filch.

"Professor Slughorn," wheezed Filch, his jowls aquiver and the maniacal light of mischief-detection in his bulging eyes. "I discovered this boy lurking in an upstairs corridor. He claims to have been invited to your party and to have been delayed setting out. Did you issue him with an invitation?"

Draco pulled himself free of Filch's grip, looking furious.

"All right, I wasn't invited!" he said angrily. "I was trying to gatecrash, happy?"

"No, I'm not," said Filch, a statement at complete odds with the glee on his face. "You're in trouble, you are! Didn't the Headmaster say that night-time prowling's out, unless you've got permission, didn't he, eh?"

"That's all right, Argus, that's all right," said Slughorn, waving a hand. "It's Christmas, and it's not a crime to want to come to a party. Just this once, we'll forget any punishment; you may stay, Draco."

Filch looked outraged. He started muttering furiously to himself and shuffled away. Draco composed his face into a smile and started thanking Slughorn for his generosity. Helena rolled her eyes at Harry behind Slughorn's back as he said,

"It's nothing, nothing. I did know your grandfather, after all…"

"He always spoke very highly of you, sir," said Draco quickly. "Said you were the best potion-maker he'd ever known…"

Helena noticed that Harry was staring at Draco and she could see why. He looked quite ill; he had dark shadows under his eyes and a distinctly greyish tinge to his skin.

"I'd like a word with you, Draco," said Snape suddenly.

"Oh, now, Severus," said Slughorn, hiccoughing again, "it's Christmas, don't be too hard–"

"I'm his Head of House, and I shall decide how hard, or otherwise, to be," said Snape curtly. "Follow me, Draco."

They left, Snape leading the way, Malfoy looking resentful.

"I'll be back in a bit, Harry," said Helena. "Er – bathroom." She hurried off through the crowd and left Slughorn's office. She crept down the corridor, listening for Snape and Draco. She wondered if Snape had taken Draco to his office in the dungeons or was escorting him back to the common room. The music from the party was loud enough to hide her footsteps and she ran down the corridor. She pressed her ear against door after door until she crouched down to the keyhole of the last classroom in the corridor and heard voices.

"…cannot afford mistakes, Draco, because if you are expelled–"

"I didn't have anything to do with it, all right?"

"I hope you are telling the truth, because it was both clumsy and foolish. Already you are suspected of having a hand in it."

"Who suspects me?" said Draco angrily. "For the last time, I didn't do it, OK? That Bell girl must've have had an enemy no one knows about – don't look at me like that! I know what you're doing, I'm not stupid, but it won't work – I can stop you!"

There was a pause and Helena thought she heard something to her right. She looked but she couldn't see anything and kept listening.

"Ah… Aunt Bellatrix has been teaching you Occlumency, I see," said Snape quietly. "What thoughts are you trying to conceal from your master, Draco?" Helena's heart almost jumped right of her chest and she had to stop herself from gasping. Snape knew that Draco was working for Voldemort. And if he knew that… he must be working for him too.

"I'm not trying to conceal anything from _him_, I just don't want _you_ butting in!"

"So that is why you have been avoiding me this term? You have feared my interference? You realise that, had anybody else failed to come to my office when I had told them repeatedly to be there, Draco–"

"So put me in detention! Report me to Dumbledore!" jeered Draco.

There was another pause. Then Snape said,

"You know perfectly well that I do not wish to do either of those things."

"You'd better stop telling me what to do, then!"

"Listen to me," said Snape. "I am trying to help you. I swore to your mother I would protect you. I made the Unbreakable Vow, Draco–"

"Looks like you'll have to break it, then, because I don't need your protection! It's my job, he gave it to me and I'm doing it. I've got a plan and it's going to work, it's just taking a bit longer than I thought it would!"

"What is your plan?"

"It's none of your business!"

"If you tell what you are trying to do, I can assist you–"

"I've got all the assistance I need, thanks, I'm not alone!"

"You were certainly alone tonight, which was foolish in the extreme, wandering the corridors without lookouts or back-up. These are elementary mistakes–"

"I would've had Crabbe and Goyle with me if you hadn't put them in detention!"

"Keep your voice down!" spat Snape, for Draco's voice had risen excitedly. "If your friends Crabbe and Goyle intend to pass their Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. this time around, they will need to work a little harder than they are doing at pres–"

"What does it matter?" said Draco. "Defence Against the Dark Arts – it's all just a joke, isn't it, an act? Like any of us need protecting against the Dark Arts–"

"It is an act that is crucial to success, Draco!" said Snape. "Where do you think I would've been all these years, if I had not known how to act? Now listen to me! You are being incautious, wandering around at night, getting yourself caught, and if you are placing your reliance on assistants like Crabbe and Goyle–"

"They're not the only ones, I've got other people on my side, better people!"

"Then why not confide in me, and I can–"

"I know what you're up to! You want to steal my glory!"

There was another pause, then Snape said coldly, "You are speaking like a child. I quite understand that your father's capture and imprisonment has upset you, but–"

Helena heard footsteps heading straight for the door. She jumped back and stood on something but before she had a chance to turn around, someone had grabbed her from behind, covered her mouth and thrust some kind of cloak over her. The door flung open and Draco went striding down away down the corridor, past the open door of Slughorn's office, round the distant corner and out of sight. Snape then exited the room, heading the same way but in no hurry. They hadn't even noticed her and her captor standing under the strange cloak. She yanked the hand from her mouth and spun around. It was Harry. He looked over her shoulder to check whether Snape had gone then pulled the cloak off them.

"What the hell?" Helena exclaimed.

"Invisibility cloak," said Harry. Helena's jaw dropped. She reached for the cloak and draped it over Harry. Sure enough, he disappeared. She pulled it back off him, looking extremely impressed.

"Wow," was all she say.

"Don't tell anyone," said Harry.

"Who would I tell?" asked Helena. "Where did you get it?"

"It was my father's," said Harry. "Sorry if I hurt you. But they would've seen you."

"I'm OK, thanks," said Helena.

"Why were you eavesdropping on them?" asked Harry.

"I… no reason. We should get back to the party."

"But you heard what they were saying!" said Harry. "Snape was–"

"I'm going back to the party," Helena interrupted him, "and I suggest you do the same." She walked away quickly and Harry ran after her.

"Do you know what Malfoy's up to?" he asked. She stopped and said firmly,

"No. But, Harry, you mustn't try to find out. Trust me, leave it alone." Harry didn't look convinced and Helena almost considered telling him what she knew so that he could tell Professor Dumbledore about Malfoy and Voldemort but she stopped herself. Harry could see that she was keeping a secret and he leaned in close to say,

"If you know something, you can tell me. Is Malfoy a Death Eater?" Helena stared at him.

"No," she said finally. "At least, not that I know. I don't know what he was talking about." Then she turned and, instead of going back to the party, headed back to the common room to pack.


End file.
